Trouble in Portlandia: Bookstore Cuts Ties to Show

The owners of the feminist bookstore that was the scene of many sketches in the popular "Portlandia" television show has cut ties with the show, accusing those behind the show of mistreating them, costing them money, and costing their neighbors money.

In a vitriol-filled broadside that charges the show with everything from being unfunny to contributing to hatred, the owners of In Other Words say that "Portlandia is fueling mass displacement in Portland."

The show regularly filmed sketches in the store in which star Fred Armisen played "Candace," the proprietor of a feminist bookstore.

The show's owners and volunteers - who say that none of them were around six years ago when the show first started working with the store - say they were "paid a small flat fee per episode" that did "not cover the profits lost by our having to remain closed for filming."

The store's owners say the filming left "our store left a mess, our staff mistreated, our neighbors forced to close and lose business for a day without warning, and our repeated attempts to obtain accountability or resolution dismissed."

They say that "the show sucks" and "Fred Armisen in a wig and a dress is a deeply shitty joke whose sole punchline throws trans femmes under the bus by holding up their gender presentation for mockery and ridicule."

They also take the producers to task for not having any "Black people on Portlandia. Portland is white but it's not that damn white."

Patch has reached out to Armisen and IFC for a response and will update the story.

Photo In Other Words